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| LinkedIn Co-founder Allen Blue |
Professional networking firm LinkedIn has seen
"extremely healthy" growth in India and is now working towards
bringing blue-collar jobs onto its platform to further expand its offerings
here, its co-founder Allen Blue said.
LinkedIn, which has over 500 million members,
counts India as its second-largest user
base with over 42 million users. The platform allows employers and job-seekers
to connect with each other.
LinkedIn announced its partnership with
IL&FS Skills Development Corporation Ltd (IL&FS Skills) to help upskill
and improve the employability of
blue-collar workers and job-seekers in the country.
"The growth in India is tremendous and the
way we measure our success, the growth in India is extremely healthy. Moving
into the blue-collar space is something we know we need to do to be successful
here in India," Blue told PTI.
He explained that India has employers of
various sizes, right from global companies to small and medium enterprises and
that they need have a variety of skill requirements.
"LinkedIn traditionally has focussed on
white-collar jobs...This is an opportunity for us to understand and work with
those companies who are interested in hiring all throughout the skills
sector," he said.
Allen Blue said the company has done some
experiments with blue collar jobs in the US. The partnership with IL&FS
Skills will offer a great scope to learn that can be taken to other parts of
the world, he added. Under the programme, IL&FS Skills will design and
provide skilling modules and training environment, while LinkedIn will help the
students find a job.
Through an interface powered by LinkedIn, the
students will be able to create a profile, access learning content, build their
network by connecting with classmates, seniors and instructors and get a job.
An initial batch of 400 people will be trained
in the hospitality sector. The programme will be extended to other industries
later.
"India has a massive blue-collar workforce,
one that can be a game-changer for businesses and our economy. We hope that
this partnership will help narrow the gap between the demand and supply of
talent," Akshay Kothari, Country Manager and Head of Product at LinkedIn
India, said.
Ministry of Skill Development And
Entrepreneurship Secretary K P Krishnan said skilled wage premium has been
absent in India, primarily a result of information asymmetry.
"I have no way of signalling I am a
qualified skilled person to a potential employer. Technology hugely helps in
addressing this asymmetry," he added.
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